


Paper Trees

by LiamInAugust



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: I Don't Even Know, I suck at tags, M/M, aaahh, and harry is cute af, and um, don't see that very often, for now, kinda just creative writing, louis has a drinking problem, ooohh, poetic fanfiction, that's basically it, they're in college
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-30
Updated: 2014-08-30
Packaged: 2018-02-15 10:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2225604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiamInAugust/pseuds/LiamInAugust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis always told himself that he would never let himself grow up, but the world has a way of changing his plans. (Or the one where Louis has a drinking problem and Harry is super cute)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paper Trees

**Author's Note:**

> So this was inspired by this cover of Chandelier, performed by Sarah Bereilles. http://zouisonweed.tumblr.com/post/96133387061/normalheart-movieboss
> 
> It's my first fic, so I guess keep that in mind...? I think I'm posting more chapters to it, so you could bookmark it for later if that's the case. 
> 
> Hope you like it!

            Louis lived in a world of paper trees. Shells of what were once beautiful and unique people, now processed and written on with words that weren’t their own. There was a time when he felt the spectacular rush of creativity in his veins every day. Now, Louis could feel himself being drawn to their ways, like every one before him. His laughs became less genuine and eyes persistently dead and empty, regardless of what he saw through them. Life transitioned to routines of groggy mornings, nights saturated in alcohol, then back again. Never once though, did he stop to think that maybe there was a chance for him. Not one time did he truly believe things could change, because those sorts of things simply didn’t happen.

            Knights don’t just dash in to the rescue on white horses, stealing away the stresses of life. One person, no matter how pure, can’t erase an addiction to something that temporarily clears the mind. Some things are too strong. A few shots a night taught him that fairly quickly.

            It started as a one-time thing. There was a paper due the next day that Louis knew he could never finish in time, so a friend suggested getting wasted instead. It had sounded like a brilliant idea at the time, considering he had never tasted even a drop wine of in his life. So first one drink, then another, and one more to wash it down. Honestly he lost count after that. Three trips to the bathroom and a cab later, he found himself on his kitchen floor with a pounding headache and class starting in ten minutes. From then on, he never broke the schedule once.

            He was fine, really. He passed his classes (well, almost all of them), fulfilled his basic needs, only brought one person (or 2) home with him a week and sometimes even skipped a drink. Rock bottom hadn’t found him yet.           

            But when it did, the whole world caved in at once. Suddenly school was near impossible. Louis missed every assignment, lost the part-time job he had managed to acquire on campus. His parents had found out about this “drinking problem” soon after, and wouldn’t speak to him. It was ramen noodles and a beer every night, though how he could afford even that was beyond him.

            The point to going on? Well, he didn’t exactly know.

            “Oops!” Louis grunted as he ran into someone in the dorm hallway, still feeling the effects of last night’s excursion. The person, a young man, simply studied him with a glint in his sea green eyes.

            “Hi,” He finally managed, looking down as his pigeon toed feet. Louis somehow felt a million times smaller than him, despite the obvious age difference, “Do you need help getting back to your dorm?”

            Louis scowled at him. Who the fuck did this kid think he was? He was 100% able to make it to his room with a hangover. He had done who knows how many times before.

            “I think I’ll pass.” He mutters under his breath, not chancing another look at the mystery guy’s face and continuing to stumble down the hall with a severe lack of balance. Not even a moment later, he felt an arm wrap around his mid section, under his shoulder. It felt nice to be held up for once, but he’d never admit that out loud.

            The day he met that boy with the green eyes that practically glowed with life, he could only picture a timer above his head. How long would it take for that light to be scuffed out? Louis had always imagined that he would keep his youthfulness until the day he died, but the world has a way of changing your plans. This boy probably had the same thought, too. He, who Louis came to know as Harry, became as precious a diamond to him, youth and all. Even if Louis couldn’t have back what he once had, maybe he could protect Harry from following him.


End file.
